The Summer Guests

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  Late August is a beautiful time on the Southern coast—the peach trees are ripe, the ocean is warm, and the sweet tea is icy. A perfect time to enjoy the rocking chairs on the porch. But beneath the calm surface bubbles a threat: it’s also peak hurricane season.

When a hurricane threatens the coasts of Florida and South Carolina, an eclectic group of evacuees flees for the farm of their friends Grace and Charles Phillips in North Carolina: the Phillips’s daughter Moira and her rescue dogs, famed equestrian Javier Angel de la Cruz, makeup artist Hannah McLain, horse breeder Gerda Klug and her daughter Elise, and island resident Cara Rutledge. They bring with them only the few treasured possessions they can fit in their vehicles. Strangers to all but the Phillips, they must ride out the storm together.

During the course of one of the most challenging weeks of their lives, relationships are put to the test as the evacuees are forced to confront the unresolved issues they have with themselves and with each other. But as the storm passes, they realize that what really matters isn’t what they brought with them to the mountains. Rather, it’s what they’ll take with them once they leave.

One (or more) Sentence Summary: I can't believe this is another first for me this summer.  I have never read a book by Mary Alice Monroe. Twice this summer I have read books by #1 best selling authors and can't figure out how I have never read one of their books before this summer. 

I connected so much with The Summer Guests, but not because I know anything about horses.  I lived in on the east coast of Florida for nine years and I have family that lives in the mountains of North Carolina!  Mary Alice Monroe does an amazing job capturing what it is like to have to evacuate due to a hurricane as well as the mountains of North Carolina in a storm (no internet for sure!).

All the guests at the farm of the Phillips' are unique individuals whose paths had not crossed.  They all have a few things in common.  They are fleeing the hurricane, love animals and willing to help any way they can with all the rescued animals. 

Good characters and good individual stories that all come together at the farm.  Enjoyable!

Would I Read Other Books by the Author:  I would love to read more of Mary Alice Monroe books.  I really want to start with The Beach House series!  I believe Cara in The Summer Guests is a character from The Beach House series.

Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the Beach House series: The Beach House, Beach House Memories, Swimming Lessons, Beach House for Rent, and Beach House Reunion. She is a 2018 Inductee into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame, and her books have received numerous awards, including the 2008 South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing, the 2014 South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence, the 2015 SW Florida Author of Distinction Award, the RT Lifetime Achievement Award, the International Book Award for Green Fiction, and the 2017 Southern Book Prize for Fiction. Her bestselling novel The Beach House is also a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. An active conservationist, she lives in the lowcountry of South Carolina. Visit her at MaryAliceMonroe.com and at Facebook.com/MaryAliceMonroe.

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